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Ye Xiaoyu thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep after such a busy day, but exhaustion won out. As soon as she lay down, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep and woke up refreshed.
The next day, both mother and son woke later than usual. Lele refused to get out of bed, unbothered by the noise outside. His growing sense of security, knowing Ye Xiaoyu wouldn’t leave him, contributed to his newfound relaxation.
Human adaptability truly is remarkable.
That morning, Aunt Mao brought her eldest daughter, Wang Hui, to the shop. Around the same age as Chen Yanan, Wang Hui had a reserved and shy personality, mirroring Aunt Mao in her actions and speech.
Ye Xiaoyu assigned Wang Hui to handle packaging and sales alongside Aunt Li, while Aunt Li joined the main sales team with her and Chen Yanan. Both women readily agreed. Aunt Li was thrilled at the opportunity to handle some cashier duties, finding it more dignified despite its challenges, while Wang Hui was relieved to avoid dealing with large crowds.
With the additional help, Ye Xiaoyu noticed a significant improvement in efficiency. That night, revenue exceeded 9,000 yuan—only slightly more than the previous day but still a notable achievement.
Over the next three days, daily gross income stabilized at 8,500 to 9,500 yuan. Ye Xiaoyu reinvested the earnings to replenish stock twice, ensuring ample packaging and products.
Most suppliers she worked with were trustworthy and even offered conveniences like scheduled deliveries, effectively serving as temporary storage. However, some raised prices or imposed additional conditions, such as specific packaging designs.
Fortunately, Ye Xiaoyu’s initial diligence in vetting multiple suppliers paid off, sparing her from major losses.
From the fifth day onward, Ye Xiaoyu began depositing daily earnings into her savings account, marking the end of her shop’s purely expenditure-driven phase.
After another three days, with revenue gradually climbing, she and Lele treated themselves to a hotel stay near the station. It was an opportunity to clean up and refresh themselves.
Ye Xiaoyu discarded their old clothes and hired hotel staff to professionally clean their belongings. She also bought a festive red cotton outfit for herself and considered trying out a bold northeastern floral jacket but ultimately decided against it after hearing it might be seen as outdated.
“Well, if floral jackets are outdated, what about flashy leggings?” she joked to herself.
Another day passed, and an interesting coincidence occurred around 9 a.m.
A group of people exited the Yan Capital Train Station, among them two foreigners with deep-set eyes, high nose bridges, and sparse hair—one blond and blue-eyed, the other with brown hair and blue eyes.
They were likely foreign businessmen invited to the country under a series of preferential policies designed to attract investors. Most foreigners visiting Ye Country at the time were here for such exploratory purposes.
Foreigners were still a rarity, though, and their presence often caused a stir. Despite the natural human curiosity about strangers, the foreigners were unaccustomed to being the center of attention in crowded places, surrounded by curious voices and stares.
As fate would have it, they passed by Ye Xiaoyu’s bustling specialty store near the station.
Though Ye Xiaoyu hadn’t put much effort into renovating her store beyond installing a canopy, her store sign was custom-made with her own design. It was cheerful, eye-catching, and festive without being gaudy—something that made passersby smile.
The sign incorporated trendy and cute elements, such as simple drawings of the Journey to the West characters, which appealed to both adults and children who loved the story. Kids, as the most whimsical consumers of the time, were heavily influenced by the saying, “Don’t let the children suffer, no matter how hard life gets.”
The blond foreigner was drawn in by these playful elements and called over his companion, who turned to look and let out an amazed “Wow.”
He wasn’t just impressed by the whimsical drawings but also noticed an English phrase written in a corner of the sign:
“Special local produc s a grea sale!”
This phrase, though far from perfect, wasn’t written casually. Ye Xiaoyu had noticed the rising trend of studying abroad and the fascination many had with Western culture. People admired the West’s affluence and often sought to immigrate. For some, Western countries were a paradise; for others, they could be a nightmare.
Ye Xiaoyu decided to leverage this Western craze by adding an English phrase to her sign. However, she didn’t anticipate one thing—her shop was near a train station, not an airport. Foreign investors typically traveled by plane and rarely visited crowded train stations. Her design seemed, at first, like a wasted effort.
But today, two foreign customers arrived unexpectedly.
The two businessmen had traveled from the neighboring Ji Province via the newly constructed high-speed rail, choosing it for its proximity. They regretted the decision as soon as they boarded, finding the business-class seats no more comfortable than a rickety car ride on bumpy roads.
Spotting the English on the sign, they felt a sense of familiarity and approached the shop. Naturally, their presence attracted a crowd, with onlookers of all ages following them.
Ye Xiaoyu stepped forward to greet them.
Her English, though average in school, had greatly improved due to a previous job that required it. She even adopted a Received Pronunciation accent, as it was considered fashionable at the time.
The foreigners, surprised but delighted, asked about the local specialties sold in the store.
Sales were Ye Xiaoyu’s forte. Without missing a beat, she passionately described the products in fluent English, showering them with praise.
The accompanying interpreters exchanged odd looks. It wasn’t that Ye Xiaoyu’s English was better than theirs—these interpreters were top-tier professionals, fluent in vocabulary and speech. But Ye Xiaoyu’s enthusiasm stood out.
She tied every product to the culture of Ye Country, passionately extolling its virtues with words, expressions, and gestures that conveyed her pride and love for her homeland.
Such open enthusiasm was unusual for Ye Country natives, but it left a deep impression on the interpreters, who found themselves inexplicably moved.
The two foreigners were equally captivated. They appreciated Ye Xiaoyu’s confidence and energy and, spurred by her vivid descriptions, purchased several 888-yuan gift boxes—some for personal use and others as gifts for family and friends.
Ye Xiaoyu told them these were “mystical blessings from the mysterious East,” magical items that could bring good fortune in love, career, and life.
The interpreters: “…”
Accompanying the foreigners were several domestic businessmen. They couldn’t understand why Ye Xiaoyu’s long, energetic sales pitch translated into only a few short sentences by the interpreters, but the outcome was clear—the foreigners loved it.
Not wanting to be outdone, the businessmen tried to pay for the gift boxes but were politely refused. Determined to make purchases, they bought out all the remaining 888-yuan gift boxes in the store.
Unsatisfied with the limited stock, they also purchased the 99-yuan, 88-yuan, and 168-yuan packages. The festive packaging made them perfect as supplementary gifts for the upcoming Lunar New Year.
Ye Xiaoyu’s shop had inadvertently sparked a buying frenzy, turning a chance encounter into a highly profitable morning.
One of the businessmen bought the items to study the packaging, seeing potential business opportunities in it.
Since the car to pick them up was arriving soon, they didn’t have to carry the items themselves.
As Ye Xiaoyu watched her shop empty out, she couldn’t help but feel regretful for not having more stock. If only she had a bigger supply and the backing of a company, she could have made more sales and had more opportunities to discuss orders with these businessmen.
But the feeling of regret lasted only a second.
No one is a fool, and these successful, savvy businessmen who had made their fortunes through talent and hard work were no exception. The main issue was simply an information gap. They quickly understood what was being sold in the store and were spending money partly out of respect for the foreigners, and partly because they could afford it.
Rather than dwelling on the regret, Ye Xiaoyu wished she had a camera. If she could snap a picture, it would make a great advertisement. She wondered if the security footage could be used for publicity.
But then again, she shouldn’t get too carried away with such daydreams.
What Ye Xiaoyu didn’t know was that just across the street, a police officer from the local station was also discussing her store.
As the New Year approached, the station became busier, and the local precinct had borrowed some manpower from other departments. The additional officers were mostly inexperienced rookies.
These rookie officers weren’t yet familiar with the area and grew cautious when they saw the large crowd across the street.
One of them asked, “Why are there so many people over there?”
Another speculated, “Could there be a riot or disturbance?”
Their response came from Officer Su Xi, who was in charge of training the new officers. She answered, “Use your brains. How could anyone cause trouble right in front of the police station? If they did, someone would have called the police by now.”
One rookie officer, a tall man with a silly grin and small tiger teeth, scratched his head and admitted, “Sister Su, I was wrong.”
Su Xi, a little embarrassed, didn’t press the issue. She cleared her throat and explained, “That’s a local specialty store. It’s doing great business. We even bought things from there before. The packaging is really nice for gifts.”
“But it seems like there’s a lot more people today.”
Worried about potential issues, Su Xi decided to check it out. They walked over, only to find that they had been overly cautious. The store was really just that popular.
Before they even got close, they could hear the excited chatter of the crowd.
“Foreigners are buying things there!”
“There are big-shot bosses in cars too!”
“This shows the products must be high quality.”
“The store owner speaks English! She chatted with the foreigners for a long time, and they bought lots of things, only the most expensive ones!”
“What? The 38-yuan beauty set is sold out? It’ll only be available tomorrow? I wanted that!”
“Make way! Make way! We’re not buying, just let us in!”
The rookie officer finally saw the store and thought it was selling jewelry or gold. Then he spotted the legendary store owner and thought she looked familiar.
Police officers often have a knack for remembering faces, and despite Ye Xiaoyu losing a lot of weight in the past month, he recognized her from an earlier encounter at the hospital and police station.
He slapped his forehead in realization, “That funny woman!”
Su Xi shot him a look.
“You’re the funny one,” she muttered.
The rookie officer wanted to explain himself, but his low threshold for laughter made it impossible for him to finish a sentence without cracking up.
“Alright, alright,” Su Xi interrupted his antics.
With so many people around, it was a perfect opportunity for petty theft, so she instructed two officers to stay at the scene and help maintain order.
Ye Xiaoyu, meanwhile, had no idea that the police were assisting her. She was too busy to even take a break for lunch, and by 5 p.m., she was eating both lunch and dinner together, feeling like she could eat a whole cow.
She closed the shop earlier than usual, but the two employees on the night shift didn’t leave early. The rolling shutter door was half up as they packed the boxes with Ye Xiaoyu. Without extra stock, there was a chance they might run out of goods for the next day.
At midnight, the two employees left, but Ye Xiaoyu remained excited, still working through her accounting.
